Robin Jones v. State

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 06, 2022

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A22A1629. ROBIN JONES v. THE STATE.

In 1986, Robin Jones was sentenced to life imprisonment after he pled guilty to murder, kidnapping, rape, and burglary. In April 2022, Jones filed a motion for out- of-time appeal. The trial court dismissed the motion, and Jones filed a notice of appeal to this Court. However, Jones has now filed a motion to transfer the appeal to the Supreme Court. Under our Constitution, the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over “[a]ll cases in which a sentence of death was imposed or could be imposed.” See Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. III (8). Because a penalty of death can be imposed for the crime of murder, jurisdiction is proper in the Supreme Court. See OCGA § 16-5-1 (e) (1); Neal v. State, 290 Ga. 563, 572 (722 SE2d 765) (2012) (Hunstein, C. J., concurring); see also State v. Thornton, 253 Ga. 524, 524 (1) (322 SE2d 711) (1984) (directing this Court to transfer “all cases in which either a sentence of death or of life imprisonment has been imposed upon conviction of murder”), overruled in part on other grounds as recognized in Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179, 205 (III) (C) (i) (824 SE2d 265) (2019). The Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over murder cases includes appeals from orders resolving post-judgment motions in such cases. See Simpson v. State, 292 Ga. 764 (740 SE2d 124) (2013) (appeal from denial of a motion in arrest of judgment attacking murder convictions as void).

Accordingly, Jones’s motion to transfer is hereby GRANTED, and this appeal is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/06/2022 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.